By Douglas Holtz-Eakin
The young drop coverage to avoid higher premiums
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
Barcelona received the maximum points in AP's global soccer rankings on Tuesday, with the team's striker, Lionel Messi, coming close to top marks.
Silvio Berlusconi's brother, vice president of AC Milan, the team owned by the media mogul, has sparked criticism by using a racist term to refer to the team's new star acquisition, Mario Balotelli, an Italian of African descent.
Mario Balotelli, a headline-grabber at the opposite end of his football career, finalized his switch from Manchester City to AC Milan for $27 million. Otherwise, there was plenty of speculation but precious little activity as the January window prepared to shut on Thursday.
"A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma:" Winston Churchill's famous description of Russia easily could be applied to Mario Balotelli.
The Italy striker will undergo a medical on Wednesday and is then expected to sign a 4½-year deal with Milan through 2017.
In soccer, fury has become part of the job. This sport celebrates coaches with short tempers _ step forward Alex Ferguson. It idolizes angry players _ think Roy Keane _ and hails their on-field aggression and occasional brutality as demonstrations of "commitment" and "leadership." It tolerates the idea that fans have a right to be angry in defeat, although it sometimes draws the line when they rip out their seats and pelt players with coins.
Actor Tom Cruise was in the crowd, but Robin van Persie was the top gun. He supplied the Hollywood ending on a day of thunder for English soccer because it suggested the Premier League title will move across Manchester again at the end of the season, but this time from City back to United.
It's the final day of Euro 2012, with Italy and Spain going head to head for the cup. Follow the best of the action, photos and pre-match buildup here. Want to have your say? Contact (at)phillipsian and (at)simonhaydon via Twitter. All times are Ukrainian.
It's the final day of Euro 2012, with Italy and Spain going head to head for the cup. Follow the best of the action, photos and pre-match buildup here. Want to have your say? Contact (at)phillipsian and (at)simonhaydon via Twitter. All times are Ukrainian.
It's the final day of Euro 2012, with Italy and Spain going head to head for the cup. Follow the best of the action, photos and pre-match buildup here. Want to have your say? Contact (at)phillipsian and (at)simonhaydon via Twitter. All times are Ukrainian.
Fatigue finally caught up with Italy. Forced by injuries to end the match with 10 players, the Azzurri had no answer for Spain's passing wizardry in the European Championship final on Sunday.
Even in slow-motion replays, Spain still seemed to play at 1 million miles an hour. The Italians? Well, they looked as though they'd been locked inside a pinball machine, which, in a way, they had.
It's the final day of Euro 2012, with Italy and Spain going head to head for the cup. Follow the best of the action, photos and pre-match buildup here. Want to have your say? Contact (at)phillipsian and (at)simonhaydon via Twitter. All times are Ukrainian.
Spain beat Italy 4-0 in the final of the European Championship on Sunday. Here's the best of the action and pre-match buildup. All times are Ukrainian.
The ignoramus who scrawled "non sei un vero italiano, sei un africano nero" _ "You are not a true Italian, you are a black African" _ on a wall near the San Siro stadium in Milan. Did he, despite himself, leap off his sofa in delight when Mario Balotelli thumped home his goal for Italy with a powerful nod of his shaven black head and put their country into the final of Europe's top soccer tournament?
"I'm very attached to my Italian passport. I should have gotten it straight away and not waited for my 18th birthday," he told France Football.
"It touched me. That's my story," he said.
